


Wildflowers

by aretia



Series: Marmora Potion Shoppe [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fantasy AU, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 15:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13390584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aretia/pseuds/aretia
Summary: Potion seller Ulaz's day working at the market gets a lot more interesting with the arrival of a mysterious customer.





	Wildflowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Revasnaslan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revasnaslan/gifts).



> Happy birthday Rev! I hope you enjoy it!

Ulaz had just organized the drawers in his potion stall for the third time that morning when a disheveled man stumbled into the stall. “Hide me!” he panted.

“Um…” Ulaz stammered, taken aback by both the other Galra’s panicked state and his handsomeness. He had an ethereal aura about him, probably a descendant of the woodland fairies of Daibazaal. 

Ulaz glanced around. There wasn’t any place to hide in his stall, since it was nothing but a small cabinet underneath an awning. “I have one invisibility potion left. It works as long as you can hold your breath,” Ulaz said. He handed a small crystal vial to the other Galra. He popped off the cork and swallowed the contents, took a deep breath, and disappeared.

A moment later, a much bulkier and hairier Galra blustered into Ulaz’s stall. “Have you seen Thace?” he demanded.

“Who?” Ulaz asked.

“Short Galra?” the man said, holding his hand up to about his shoulder height.

Ulaz shook his head. “Haven’t seen him.” 

The heavyset Galra let out a growl of frustration and stomped out of the stall, back down the aisle of the outdoor marketplace. 

Ulaz’s hidden guest let out his breath and became visible, leaning his hands heavily on Ulaz’s table. “Nice to meet you, Thace,” Ulaz quipped.

“Thank you,” Thace panted. “That was my boss, Prorok. He’s…”

“He seems like a jerk,” Ulaz said bluntly.

“He’s just in a mood,” said Thace, putting his hand up and rubbing the back of his head. “He’s not always like that.”

“What did you do to make him so angry?” Ulaz asked.

“I, well…” Thace began. “I put the wrong flavor of creamer in his coffee…”

He wasn’t able to finish before Ulaz let out a snort, and covered his mouth before he lapsed into hysterics. “I’m sorry, your boss wants to kill you over _coffee?_ ” Ulaz sputtered.

Thace stared at him for a long moment, like he was in a trance. Then, a smile crept over his face. “I guess he really doesn’t like that flavor,” he said with a soft giggle. Laughter bubbled up in his throat and a radiant smile broke out across his face, and soon he was shaking with mirth. 

Now, it was Ulaz’s turn to stare in awe. Purple, blue, and yellow wildflowers bloomed from the ground at Thace’s feet. He leaned his hand on Ulaz’s cabinet to steady himself, and the flowers sprouted up from the cracks in the wood and spread all over the potion displays. A few even bloomed on Thace’s head, forming a crown in his purple fur. Ulaz recognized the species, rare flowers that required the most specific conditions to grow, and yet here they were growing on this man’s head. 

Thace’s laughter quieted down, and he wiped tears from his eyes and opened them to see Ulaz staring back at him with a look of astonishment. “Oh… Oh no, I did it again, didn’t I?” he muttered. He clasped his arms to his chest, and brought one of his hands to his mouth and started biting his nails.

Ulaz reached out his hand and placed it on Thace’s elbow, which stopped Thace’s whimpering. “I’m not mad at you,” Ulaz said, keeping his voice low and even. 

“I got flowers all over your shop,” said Thace, cheeks flushing blue. 

“It’s alright, I can clean it up,” Ulaz said. He even wove a soothing purr into his voice, and he wasn’t sure why he did it. “Don’t be ashamed of it. It’s beautiful.” He _was_ talking about the flowers, but when he said that, Thace smiled again, and Ulaz’s breath caught in his throat. 

It crossed his mind that Prorok could still be in the area, and as amusing as the coffee situation sounded, Thace could still be in danger. He also wanted some privacy to calm down his fluttering heart. “Maybe you should go,” said Ulaz.

“Yeah, you’re right,” sighed Thace, and he sounded wistful. Ulaz started plucking the flowers off of his counter, and in the process he knocked over the empty vial from the invisibility potion, sending it clattering to the ground. “Oh! I still need to pay you for the potion,” Thace said.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s on me,” Ulaz replied.

“No, you have to let me pay you. I would feel bad if I stole a potion _and_ vandalized your stall,” said Thace. Ulaz would hardly call it vandalism. Once he made room for his merchandise again, Ulaz would probably leave a few of the flowers to decorate, because they were stunning. But he could understand Thace’s concern. Thace rummaged around in his satchel for a moment and came up empty-handed. “I don’t have any money, but I can come back next week when I get paid…”

Ulaz’s heart leapt at the thought of seeing Thace again, but he had a better idea. “If you want, you could work for me at the potion shop to pay it off. It seems like you could use an excuse to get away from your boss, anyway.” 

“You would do that for me?” said Thace.

“Of course,” Ulaz said with a smile.

Thace’s cheeks blushed blue again. “I don’t think I would be much help…”

“With that flower magic you have, you would save me a lot on ingredients. That would be enough to pay me back right there,” Ulaz said. Not to mention that he would pay more than he could afford just for Thace’s company, but he couldn’t exactly say that. 

“Thank you…” Thace paused, and Ulaz realized he had been so flustered that he hadn’t given him his name. 

“Ulaz,” he prompted.

“Thank you, Ulaz.” Thace beamed, and Ulaz felt like an arrow had gone through his heart.

Thace stepped out of the stall and glanced over his shoulder. “Quiznak, he’s coming back this way,” he muttered.

“You can go out the back,” Ulaz said. He lifted the curtain at the back of his stall and waved Thace over. “See you here tomorrow for your first shift?” Ulaz whispered, his voice coming out too breathy for his liking. Thace nodded. 

Thace ducked under the opening, and Ulaz’s hand grazed the small of his back as he helped him through and then lowered the curtain. 

Ulaz faced the front of his stall again, hoping his face didn’t look as burning blue as it felt. Prorok stormed by again, and didn’t spare Ulaz a glance as Thace disappeared out the back alley. 

Ulaz picked one of the flowers off of his counter, and twirled the stem between his fingers. He brought it up to his nose and breathed in the sweet scent. He hoped that he would spend more time with Thace in the future, and make him laugh so hard that he made flowers grow again. In the meantime, he would try to keep the flowers from wilting, holding on to the piece of Thace that he left behind.


End file.
